


Dusty Old Bookshelf

by TwinCarcino



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Expect Bulk Updates, F/F, Fluff, Jasper Redemption (Steven Universe), Role Reversal, Smut, These can be pretty short stories, Underage Drinking, Various stories, Waitress AU, mentions of drug use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-11-20 17:32:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11340099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinCarcino/pseuds/TwinCarcino
Summary: Bookshelves are home to countless stories. So, come take a peek at the many stories in this one.





	1. Attention

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of short stories for various ships and characters in Steven Universe. Many of these are taken from requests I've gotten on Tumblr for writings. Hope you all enjoy. They tend to be pretty short.

Lapis was in no way  _jealous._

Lapis didn't do the whole 'Jealousy' thing. She was always confident and secure in her relationship and never got jealous when the focus of her lover wasn't on her. That wasn't Lapis' thing. She was not jealous.

She repeated that to herself like some kind of mantra, as though if she said it enough time it would become true. All the while she glared at Peridot who was playing with and paying attention only to the newest addition to their little family. She repeated to herself that she didn't feel envious of any of it. She just didn’t like the way Peridot only ever wanted to do things with Pumpkin lately, but that in no way meant that she was jealous of the puppy.

They’d gotten the puppy just last week. More specifically, Lapis had gotten him for Peridot as a gift for her birthday. But, she couldn't help but regret her choice now, seeing as Peridot had practically all but forgotten about her own girlfriend in favor of the barking furball. It wouldn't be so bad if Peridot would remember Lapis now and then, but the blue-haired artist had been put to the side and ignored.

But. She wasn’t jealous. 

There was no way she could be, or ever would be jealous of a  _dog_. Sure, Peridot's attention was fixated solely on the new puppy and only on the puppy, but she'd come back to Lapis sooner or later. She just needed a bit of an incentive to come back.

Lapis just needed to be smart about how she won back Peridot’s attention from the dog who stole her from her. She couldn't do anything risky or stupid. If she got rid of Pumpkin, Peridot would surely hate her with how attached she was to the pup, not to mention it would have been a waste of money considering how much they'd already poured into for him. So, she just had to beat the dog at it’s own game, do something that not even Peridot could ignore to win back her love and attention.

As she curled up on the chair watching them, an idea sprung to mind and a grin quickly formed.

“I’m going to be  _right_ back, Peri,” Lapis called out as she slipped off the chair and made her way to their shared bedroom. She barely got much more than a hum showing that Peridot had heard her at all. The dog barked happily and Peridot was praising him with that babytalk of hers, it was a little annoying how even her seductive tone hadn't gotten even a glance in her direction.

Well, after this, Peridot wasn’t going to be able to just ignore her quite so easily.

She opened her drawers and rummaged through it with a devious little smile. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner? If there was one way to always get Peridot wrapped around her fingers and forget about everything but her, it was this. As she found what she was looking for, buried deep under her folded clothes, Lapis quickly stripped. It took a couple of minutes to get the lingerie on, but she managed. Blue silk with cute little green bows on them covering her most private places.

Though Peridot would never admit to it out loud, Lapis knew that her girlfriend loved seeing Lapis in this. It was the only reason she ever wore something like this in the first place.

The bluenette took one looked herself over in the mirror, fixing her hair and adjusting the straps before she made her way out of the bedroom.

“Oh, Peri~!” she called out walking slow and purposeful to the blonde, poised and confident. “Do you think you could help me with something?” she asked innocently as she came to a stop right in front of the blonde, bending forward and over the blonde.

Peridot was still on her knees on the floor, playing with Pumpkin and smiling brightly. “Sure,” she answered as she looked up, “What is i—” she cut herself off as she saw Lapis in her state. A deep blush was quick to cover her entire face. The way that Lapis had put herself had made it so that when Peridot looked up, the very first thing she would see was cleavage and a chest just barely concealed by blue satin fabric. She stammered with her words, and after a few moments managed to look up at Lapis' face, though her eyes would flicker down every so often.

For her part, Lapis only smiled sweetly, seductively, already enjoying this, “Oh, it’s nothing too bad,” she said reaching out and playing with the red bow tie Peridot liked to wear, “I seem to be having some problems that only you can fix," she let her voice drop as she said that, the implications of her words painfully clear.

Peridot only nodded mutely, as embarrassed but eager as expected. She didn't seem to notice Pumpkin whining for attention and butting his head against her leg. Lapis had captured all her attention and the woman couldn't have been more pleased by the success.

Smiling, Lapis tugged her up so that she could capture her into a deep kiss. After a few seconds, Peridot reciprocated, bringing her hands up to tangle her fingers in blue strands as Lapis tightened her grip and pushed her girlfriend down.

Safe to say, Lapis got all the attention she could want from Peridot that night, and she doubted Peridot was going to forget her quite so easily with all the marks Lapis had left.


	2. Reversed Roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Role Reversal for the story 'The Moon is Beautiful' for Peridot and Lapis.

The TV hummed softly, it's glow illuminating the otherwise dark living room.  Rain pattered quietly against the window in a gentle symphony. Lapis hummed to herself as she laid, sprawled out on her back on the couch, resting atop her was Peridot, sleeping peacefully as Lapis wrapped one arm around her waist and ran her fingers through her blonde hair with her other hand. Sometimes, it was so hard to believe that she and Peridot were together, that despite everything, despite all the reasons not to be together, that Lapis was here, with Peridot in her arms.

Lapis could easily remember the first time she met Peridot with startling clarity, as though it had just happened yesterday.It was the first day of school,

It was the first day of school, the first day of senior year. Lapis had been off to a bad start and was already running late, as per expected. She wasn’t exactly a morning person, and without parents home in the morning to hound her to get up and get moving, and without an active motivation to get up and moving in the first place, Lapis had a tendency to be tardy more often than not, some days even skipping because she couldn’t be bothered to go to school and much more rathered to just stay in bed and sleep all day.

She had been running down the halls with an urgency she usually didn't have, because  _damn if she was going to be late for art_. The  _one_ class in her schedule that she actually liked and looked forward too. There would be a new teacher since Vidalia had moved away and she didn’t want to give a bad first impression to the teacher of her favorite class. While she ran blindly down the halls and stairs, she hadn’t exactly been paying the most attention to her surroundings, in far too much of a hurry to get to class before the bell rang.

Turning the corner, she had rammed right into another person. The impact was painful and Lapis had just barely managed to stay on her feet while the other tumbled to the ground.

The girl had been short, incredibly so. Probably 5″0 if Lapis had to guess, with the fluffiest blonde hair she’d ever seen and a pair of dark rimmed crooked glasses. Lapis could see bright green eyes behind the glasses, they were kind of cute, actually.  She groaned with obvious pain as she rubbed her lower back where most of the impact must have been for her when she fell.

Now, Lapis wasn’t a heartless jerk, she helped the girl up even though she was in a rush, apologized and everything! The girl had understood her reasons for running and in return, she just asked her where one of the rooms was. Lapis had assumed at the time that the girl was a freshman from her size and her lack of knowledge of the school layout. Even still, Lapis had taken a liking to her fast. The girl had been adorable, a bit frazzled, but like a little kitten. Lapis always had a thing for the shy, small girls. She wasn't sure what it was, but, she just liked them. Maybe it was the feeling that they would depend on her and she could protect them.

As they parted ways, she kind of wanted to see her again, maybe talk to her some time. 

So, imagine Lapis’ surprise when five minutes later in the art room the very same girl came in and went to the teachers' desk to drop her things off. Turning to the class, she apologized for being late and announcing herself as their teacher, Ms. Peridot Olivine.  Gave some facts about herself, like that she graduated high school and college early and had actually just graduated from college. It was one thing to realize the girl wasn't younger than Lapis, another to find that she was her  _teacher._ She did not look the part at all.

For most people, that would have made them step back. Been the red tape that put their attraction to said person put on a back burner and all that jazz. But for Lapis? She was just even more interested in this woman than ever before.

She'd never dated someone older than her before.

Lapis wouldn't lie, she may have pushed her boundaries and tested her limits almost daily; flirting and hitting on Peridot any chance she got. But, Lapis couldn’t help it, the woman was just so cute when she got red and flustered. It wasn't as though Peridot rebuffed her advances either. In fact, sometimes Lapis felt like Peridot encouraged them. Lapis got Peridot to spend time with her daily during lunch at a diner called  _The Barn_ and they always talked and chatted. Peridot actively encouraged Lapis' dreams to be an artist, and Lapis found herself fawning over Peridots own sketches and works.

Lapis wasn’t sure how, but, somehow her attraction turned into actual feelings, and even more? They were reciprocated.

Though the confessions were kind of messy and Lapis couldn't remember half of it, she did remember waking up in Peridot's house the next morning. Fully clothed, she was a little let down by _that_ detail.

At the time of her confession, Lapis had been a  _little_ high and drunk that night after attending a party hosted by her friend Jasper. She'd gotten bored and wandered out and was found in the park by Peridot who, worried and concerned, had brought Lapis to her home to sober up. So, without the inhibitions, she had confessed, said some  _very_ stupid things, that to this day Peridot refused to let her live down. But, the main thing was that Peridot returned her feelings when Lapis gushed out her heart to the blonde who had welcomed her into her home while Lapis sobered up from the party. 

Of course, the two never made their relationship known. If someone asked one of them if they were single, they’d say they weren’t but never give names. They  _couldn’t_ let anyone know about them. Too much red tape, and even though Lapis was already almost nineteen when they started dating they could still get in trouble. 

But, here they were, Graduation night. No longer was Lapis a student of Peridot’s, no longer was Peridot a teacher to Lapis.

Just girlfriends.

Smiling, Lapis wrapped her arms tightened around the older blonde who nuzzled against her in her sleep. “Girlfriends,” she repeated out loud, a warmth deep in her chest, “Maybe we’ll be more someday, too.”


	3. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short Jaspis piece that was requested. My first time writing Jaspis so please be gentle, I hope you enjoy.

It had taken a year, but, the Crystal Gems were able to find a way to reverse the corruption forced upon gems, to heal the gems that had been forced into an animalistic mindset and lose all sense of self. They took the gems that were bubbled, that were corrupted. They healed them. Most gems returned to Homeworld, chose to return to where they felt they belonged.

Jasper chose to wander. To sort out her thoughts and her feelings after all she had learned and all she had endured. Her view of the world had been taken and thrown out to a raging, crashing sea of confusion and clarity. What she thought to be true had become lies, and lies had become truth. So much had changed and she needed to find herself again.

A year later, Jasper returned. Still hurting, still struggling to find her place. But she had come back as a friend, not as an enemy. She came back. Not as a Crystal Gem. Though, she did join on missions when requested. Befriended Steven, helped train him, Taught Amethyst 'Quartz Only' tricks and techniques.

Steven had suggested that Jasper move into the barn, firmly believing she needed a place to belong. Peridot had been eager to accept her former friend and companion back into her life now that Jasper was on their side.

Jasper declined. Lapis was living there. The barn was Lapis' home and not a place where Jasper would ever tread. Neither were ready to face each other again. Their wounds still fresh, the pain still sharp. They needed time. 

Lapis and her never spoke. Never looked each other in the eye.

Too much bad blood. Too much bad memories. Too much pain and hurt was between them. It was hard enough for them to simply stand in the same room. They stayed as far from one another as they could. More often then not, the mere presence of the other would be too much. It was too suffocating, too painful. One of them would leave until the gathering had finished.

Jasper became more nomadic in a way. She traveled, explored the world. She never truly got to see the beauty that was Earth, not during the war, not when she was trapped. She liked the places she saw and the people she met. She liked the Earth. She never stayed in one place for long. Stevens guardian, Greg, had gotten her a phone. She kept it on her always, for if the gems ever needed her. But, she mostly kept moving. Trying to find who she was now that everything she had lived and fought for those past five thousand years was over. Trying to find someplace on this planet where she could belong.

 

On Stevens twentieth birthday, Lapis stood beside Jasper at the circle of friends and family as they all celebrated. It was the first time they ever stood side by side since Jaspers return. They never spoke to each other, never looked at one another. Never acknowledged that the other was even there. But, something had changed between the, while unsaid, something new was forming. It wasn't even certain if they, themselves noticed the change.

Lapis didn’t eat any cake at the party, Jasper had three slices. They sat by each other at the table, sometimes they bumped into one another when they moved; the room was rather crowded considering all the friends Steven had made. They never once looked at each other. No one commented on them either. 

 

A year later, Jasper and Lapis had been taken on a mission together with the Crystal Gems. It was the first time they would work together, let alone fight together. They were hunting a corrupted gem, the purpose to capture, bubble and cure the creature. The gem they were fighting was the size of Alexandrite and twice as dangerous.  Scorpion like in appearance and quick. They needed all the gems they could spare. 

Lapis had been knocked to the ground by one of its massive pincers. A pile of rocks from the cliff falling down on top of her after another pincer rammed into the cliff wall. Lapis was on her stomach, stunned and unmoving from the blow. Her gem in the open and fragile.

She acted on instinct, but Jasper threw herself atop Lapis. Using her own physical form to shield Lapis' gem from the massive chunks of rocks and stone that instead pelted Jaspers back. Her form strained under the blows and weight of the rubble, but she kept herself steady as she covered Lapis, both of them buried under rocks and stone. It wasn't hard for Jasper to break free from the rocky prison, and she had carefully, gently pulled Lapis out too, checking for any sign of damage on her gem, on her being, carrying her in her arms and away from the more dangerous area as the other gems fused together to battle the corrupted one.

It was the first time they’d touched one another willingly. Touched one another with care. Lapis’ eyes had been wide with disbelief, that faded to concern when she saw the injuries Jasper had sustained protecting her. She’d touched Jaspers face. Never said anything, but the message was there. 

‘ _Thank you’._

The gem was captured and bubbled after a long and tiring fight. Jasper and Lapis parted ways once more. They never saw each other again, never strove to seek the other out and continued to stay far from each other as they could, to avoid one another as best they could. But, something between them had changed again. What had been formed between them had started growing. A mutual respect had started to develop.

 

When Steven turned twenty-five, they had a party out in the ocean on a large boat. The party was small compared to his twentieth birthday, mostly family and close friends were there.

Jasper found Lapis at the ship's railing, away from everyone else. Away from the noise and festivities. She was staring down at the murky water, lost in thoughts. The quartz took a stand next to her, leaning against the metal bars and watched the waves licking the side of the ship. They both had the same thing on their mind. Malachite. Their imprisonment under the sea. Their months of hurting one another.

The two didn’t say anything.

Not even looking up at her, Lapis leaned over and rested her head against Jaspers arm, a hand coming over to lightly grab her hand. Jasper twisted her hand in Lapis grip so that she could hold it in return. 

As Jasper and Lapis quietly held one another and watched the water and waves around them as the sound of the party faded behind them, they couldn't feel the hatred that had once existed between them. Something warm, something kind had replaced it. It wasn't the same revolting, painful intensity that had been there before. It was far more gentle, far more soothing. They could now put a name to what had begun to develop between them over the years. 

They had grown and their wounds healing.


	4. Art Room Privacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A requested NSFW piece taking place in the 'The Moon is Beautiful' universe. If this is not your thing, I advise you skip this one.

“Lapis,” a soft whimper filled the air of the storage closet in the art room.

Lapis hummed in response as she continued peppering kisses and the occasional nips along her neck pale, bared neck. The woman had her pinned against the wall of the art rooms storage closet and had already gotten Peridots green hoodie off and on the ground, along with the alien shirt she had worn under it, offering up more skin for her mouth to assault. Lapis wasn't one to let an opportunity pass, and this was no exception as she ran her tongue from Peridots collar to her jaw, earning a small whine from the blonde. 

Fingers threaded through blue hair, pulling her closer, “L-Lapis,” Peridot said breathily as Lapis began nipping and biting at her tender throat.

Hearing that voice, husky and filled with want and need drove her _wild_. Lapis decided that she could survive solely off that voice and the sounds Peridot was making. The teacher let out a groan herself as she bit her teeth gently into Peridots neck, leaving bruise after bruise. Marking her. Claiming her.  _Mine. Mine. Mine._ Lapis thought as she began brushing gentle, loving kisses on each hickey she left. Hearing Peridot's breath hitch and her moan at each bite and kiss, Lapis could feel her insides heating up and her panties growing damp.

Those very fingers in her hair dragged her back up and pulled Lapis into a bruising, needy kiss. Hot and messy and breathtaking. Lapis drew her arms around Peridot, digging her fingers into those plump hips as she pressed herself again her, lighting grinding against Peridot.

Peridot moaned as the kiss broke, a thin string of saliva hung between them, “Lapis… what if someone comes in?” she asked, her face completely flushed with arousal. She was breathing heavily, still holding onto Lapis. She wanted this just as badly as Lapis did. But, well, the school wasn't an ideal place and the worry of their privacy being interrupted was still there.

Her lover was just as breathless and responded by diving back in to kiss Peridot again and again. She could _never_ , ever get enough of the sweet taste of Peridot’s lips on her own. “Relax,” Lapis said between the kisses that were growing more and more intense, “We’ve all the privacy we need. No ones going to come in the art room. Let alone in the closet,” she assured as she began peppering kisses back down Peridot's neck and then lower... lower.

Peridot brought a hand to her mouth, biting down on her own finger to muffle her groans as Lapis lovingly laid kisses all over her body. Worshiping every inch of Peridot’s flesh with kisses and bites. Leaving her mark everywhere she could. So that if someone looked at Peridot, they would know that she was taken. That she belonged to someone already, that Lapis had no intention of ever letting her go.

Finding herself on her knees, Lapis looked up at Peridot with the pure adoration and love. As though she were at an altar, gazing upon a goddess, “Can I?” she asked, her voice a whisper as her fingers found themselves at the hem of Peridots pants, fingers toying with her button, waiting for confirmation to go further.

Face flushed a dark red, eyes dark with lust and need, Peridot was the picture of beauty. A goddess to Lapis as she looked up at her. Swallowing hard, the blonde gave a slow nod.

Her pants were at her ankles in no time. As she had been doing already, Lapis started up her kisses again. running up from her ankles to her inner thigh, not touching the source of heat that was nigh unbearable for Peridot and instead she ran up the other leg. Coating her in kisses, she began biting into Peridot’s thighs, slowly, gradually biting harder and longer until her inner thighs were coated in darkening splotches to serve as yet another reminder of who Peridot was with. So that she would remember that Lapis had been there whenever she moved or even looked at herself. 

Hooking her thumbs into Peridots underwear, she drew them down and latched onto her sensitive bud as soon as the annoying piece of clothing was out of the way.

If what Lapis had done before was good, when the blue-haired artist attacked the source of Peridot’s heat, it was heavenly. Peridot was inexperienced in this field and Lapis was an expert. The woman knew all the places to touch, to kiss, to suck to send Peridot rocketing up to cloud nine. She had Peridot on puppet strings, could get her body to spasm and shudder with her fingers and her tongue. What Lapis was doing to her was _magical_.

It was all that Peridot could do not to cry out loud as her hips bucked with every motion. She began chanting Lapis’ name in a mantra as she grabbed onto her blue hair with one of her hands, gripping roughly as Lapis continued to work her mouth on her as she covered her own mouth with her other. She could barely stand up right, leaning against the wall for support as Lapis went to work on her.

Then, all too soon, it was over like an explosion of color as Peridot cried out Lapis’ name and her legs buckled under her. Lapis caught her and was quick to her feet, letting Peridot lay her entire weight against her, supporting her as she licked off some remaining wetness from her lips and nuzzled her face into Peridots bruised neck.

“Shh… I’m here, love, I’m here sweetheart,” Lapis assured in whispers and soft words as Peridot continued to shiver and tremble in the aftershocks of her orgasm, stroking her hair tenderly and whispering loving words into Peridots ear.

It was slow, but Peridot eventually came back down to Earth, still dazed and starry-eyed from the intense orgasm as she looked up at Lapis who drew back to watch her, and let out a low whimper.

“That was… that was amazing,” she whispered as she pressed her face against Lapis’ shirt. 

Lapis couldn’t help but smile as she reached over to grab a clean towel from the stack on one of the shelves beside them, reaching down to clean up the mess of fluids and wetness that she'd made of Peridot, “Consider that an appetizer, then,” she responded, gently, teasingly rubbing the towel against Peridots legs and lower regions, feeling Peridot twitch and shiver under her touch, still all too sensitive, and clearly starting to get worked up again from Lapis' masterful touches. “If you think that was amazing, wait until you see what I’ve in store for you after school when we get home.”

“Oh… oh my stars…”


	5. Quiet Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short story requested, taking place in the TMIB universe.

The television buzzed quietly, a faint glow flashing across the dark room. A Canadian teen drama playing. Their favorite show, though not really their favorite episode. The clock ticked quietly, the hands on the structure indicating that it was just a little past eleven in the evening. The moon, a shining white crescent in the starry sky, indicated the same. By the doorway to the hall, a large dog snoozed and snored softly.

On the couch Lapis laid, she was only partially paying attention to the television. Unusual considering this was one of her favorite shows. But, understandable when her focus was on her favorite person curled up in her arms.

She smiled softly. Peridot was sleeping quietly, she’d fallen asleep an hour ago and Lapis hadn’t had it in her to wake her up. The girl was always cute, but even more adorable when she slept.

Finals were approaching and Peridot had been beyond stressed out lately from studying and the constant calls and pestering from her overbearing mother. It was all Lapis could do to keep her dear girlfriend grounded in the chaos that was the final leg of school, keep her smiling and laughing despite the sleepless nights of all night studying and days full of study sessions. 

She’d do all she could to keep Peridot happy.

Lapis tightened her grip on Peridot, pulling her closer and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. Peridot squirmed a little, letting out a cute little noise as she slowly opened her eyes. “Lapis?” she asked sleepily.

“Hey, babe,” Lapis greeted, easing up her grip so that Peridot could roll over on her, “Did I wake you? Sorry?”

“S’fine,” she mumbled, pressing her face against the crook of Lapis’ neck. “What time is it?”

Lapis glanced up at the clock, “About half-past eleven,” she answered before tugging Peridot closer again, “Want me to shut off the TV?”

She could feel Peridot’s face against her neck as the younger girl shook her head, thin arms wrapping around Lapis’ frame as she held her in return, “If you want,” she paused to yawn, “You should sleep, school in the morning.”

The blue haired artist broke out into a light laugh, pressing her face against Peridot’s soft tufts of blonde hair. “You’re one to talk, you have classes, not to mention you’re meeting up with Pearl and Zircon for a bunch of studying after school too,” she reminded the blonde, “You need your sleep more than I do.”

Peridot grumbled something and nuzzled deeper into Lapis, “Fine. We can both sleep then.”

She was beyond happy with that answer and wasted no time. Getting up quickly and suddenly, Lapis hoisted a startled and squirming Peridot into her arms. “Well! Then we should go somewhere a bit more comfortable,” Lapis announced, moving her arms under her girlfriends legs and supporting her back, “Shall I take you to your chambers, madame?” 

Peridot wrapped her arms around Lapis’ neck, giggling at the sudden formality, “Technically it’s your chambers,” she pointed out, “But, so long as you lay beside me, take me away my sweet prince.”

They got to the bedroom quick, Lapis carrying Peridot as though she was her bride and they were going to their honeymoon sweet. Maybe one day that would be the reason she carried her. Lapis was careful to lay Peridot on the bed and crawled in beside her. Peridot wasted no time curling up beside her, pressing her entire form against Lapis’ own, fitting against her perfectly. 

“Sleep tight, Peridot,” Lapis whispered as she Peridot.

She could feel Peridot smile against her collar and a soft kiss pressed against her skin, “Goodnight, Lapis. Love you,” she whispered in the quiet of the night as the two drifted into a peaceful slumber. 

When the morning sun came to rise, it rose to find the two still sleeping soundly, wrapped in each others arms and looks of love and peace on their faces.


	6. First Day; Senior Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Role Reversal for the TMIB fic that had been requested, as always I hope you guys enjoy!

The beginning of each school year was always the same package of dullness for students, regardless of the year or school. Same bland lockers, same annoying teachers acting superior and better because they’re older, same old faces to the same annoying and awful people, the same group of friends all dragging their feet because summer has come to an end.

For seniors, it was the final year before they’d go off to college, if they were lucky or motivated enough, and that alone was dreadful enough because it meant they’d study not just for their regular classes, but for their SAT’s, ACT’s, they’d be under a mountain of paperwork called applications for scholarships and colleges, and their emails completely full of junk and spam under the guise of grants and award money.

It was Hell. Students were still on a buzz for the first few days, feel like everything is new because the three months they were gone, but by the time they were done with the first full month, they’d be bitter and angry and ready to quit. They’d grow to hate their teachers, their lockers, their classmates.

It was only five minutes in and Lapis already hated everything. Her locker. Her class schedule. Her teachers, even though she hadn’t met them directly yet. She just wanted to be out and back at the beach, swimming, and lifeguarding. Not in this brick prison called a school.

At least now Jaspers weekly parties had a reason for celebration again; free from school for a few days.

Lapis tiredly tugged on the strap of her vibrant blue backpack, her head held high, her expression that of someone dead inside and she glared at anyone who dared cross her path. It was morning, she was ready to fight someone. She was  _not_ a morning person and she’d grown too used to sleeping in until noon only to abruptly wake up at seven.

Three o’clock couldn’t come any sooner.

The final year of high school just meant one more year of prison and morning classes before she could finally blow this town and do something she actually liked. She didn’t really care about getting into a college or not, her grades weren’t all that great anyways so she doubted any would accept her. Lapis was already certain she could make a living as a swim instructor during the summer days and selling her paintings and giving art lessons during the winter days. She didn’t need a college degree for that. She doubted she even needed a high school degree.

Art was her passion, so was swimming. Lapis had decided when she first started swimming that it was what she was born to do. When she picked up her first paintbrush, she fell in love.

She supposed that made her first class of the day a bit more bearable. It was an advanced art class, though she would use the word ‘advanced’ loosely. Still, it was art, which meant she could paint and draw as much as she wanted and the teacher wouldn’t scold her. Well, not as much as the others would. She heard Vidalia was a pretty chill teacher and sometimes even let the class do whatever art project they wanted so she could sleep.

Slipping into the classroom, there were only a couple minutes to spare before the bell would ring so she considered herself cutting it close. She would have wanted to be there a little sooner since it was the one class she was looking forward to, but, she had been held up just a little by running into another student in the hall. Probably some freshmen from the way she looked, it was kind of cute how the blonde had been so frazzled trying to figure out where certain rooms were. Lapis had to admit she was pretty cute. She hadn’t even gotten to ask the girl her name, but, she’d have to keep an eye out for the pretty blonde later in the halls.

Closing the wooden, paint stained door behind her, Lapis scanned the room. It wasn’t hard to find Jasper near the back, the woman was well over six feet tall and packed with nothing but muscle, she stood out like a sore thumb in any crowd and had an attitude to match her appearance.

Lapis shoved her way to the table and dropped her backpack unceremoniously onto the ground by her chair. “Hey, surprised you’re here,” she greeted.

Jasper shrugged as she leaned back in her chair, “Needed a fine arts credit, figured if I got art then at least I could use you to give me a crutch for this class,” Jasper was not an arts person. She was a sports person, and though she was phenomenal in History and English, any other subject she took she barely survived.

“So, when’s Vidalia getting here?” Lapis asked glancing up at the clock. Eight fifteen. The teacher should have been there by now since school officially started.

Her best friend looked at her as though she’d sprouted another head, “Seriously, Laz? You’re the art person and you don’t know?” she asked and Lapis turned with a raised brow, “Vidalia quit at the end of the year, she and her husband and kid moved.”

“What? But Sour Cream’s still here?”

“He’s apparently rooming with Buck and staying here, didn’t want to do long-distance dating with his two SO’s. Vidalia gave the okay to it.”

Lapis hummed as she thought it over. Well, at least that meant Onion wouldn’t be breaking into Funland stuff and giving Mr. Smiley a headache anymore and the Cool Kids wouldn’t be separated. “Any idea who the new teacher is?” Lapis asked. Jasper tended to know anything and everything that went on in this school. Probably because of the principal, Scarlett was her aunt. At least, that was Lapis’ theory on it.

Again, the large woman just shrugged, “Heard it was some newbie, fresh out of college teacher,” she said.

“God, they’re going to get eaten alive.”

As Lapis and Jasper chatted, the door was pushed open and a short woman with fluffy blonde hair stumbled in. She had an overstuffed brown messenger bag completely covered in pins and buttons and her entire attire was a mess like she’d rushed all the way here. She didn’t look that much older than Lapis, in fact, she kind of looked like she was younger given her height and baby-face. She had a green blouse and faded jeans, and, well she was kind of cute.

She was a face that was hard to forget. It was the very same girl that Lapis had ran into earlier in the halls. She found a grin making its way to her face as she straightened up. For a moment she wished Jasper wasn’t at her table so she could hail the cutie over to sit next to her. Maybe she’d be able to get beside her later on. But, being classmates with this girl certainly made things easier, she could get near the girl under so many class-related reasons now. This could be good. Hopefully, this girl was gay.

Her grin faltered for a moment as she continued watching the girl. Instead of coming to one of the tables for students, she made her way to the front of the room and dropped her bag on the teacher's desk and turned to scrawl her name onto the board with a green marker. Without saying anything she wrote  _Ms. Peridot Olivine_. It was scratchy, messy and a little hard to read, but that just gave it personality.

Turning back to the class, she wore a smile far too big and eager for a teacher just starting the day. She clapped her hands together and her grin grew a little, “Hello everyone, nice to meet you. I’m your art teacher for this semester, the great and lovable Peridot Olivine!” she introduced herself with a little laugh, “Don’t think you’re going to get a free A just because this is art. I grade on the effort you put into your work and how you behave in class, along with a paper you’ll have to write as well. Well, multiple papers.”

The class groaned at hearing that, but the smile never left her face. It was genuine like she really was happy to be here and teaching this class to a bunch of high schoolers.

So, she  _wasn’t_ a first year, she was actually older than Lapis. Probably early twenties if Jasper was right. Lapis was, to be frank, quite surprised by that, but… she had to admit that it made it more interesting. The girl, Peridot, was still rather cute. She wasn’t  _too_ terribly older than Lapis, not to forget that Lapis was already eighteen anyway.

Lapis felt her grin grow and the interest she had in this adorable blonde grow as well. This was going to be a good year.


	7. School Girl Crushes Pt. 1

Lapis felt her face heat up a little as she laid eyes on Peridot from across the hall. Even now, after four years of high school, the girl was just as beautiful as when Lapis first met her.

Even now, four years into high school and four years of crushing, Lapis still hadn’t managed to get the courage to say a single word to her. 

Kind of dumb. Kind of ridiculous. Kind of pathetic.

Usually, Lapis was able to take things by the horns and take on whatever life threw at her. But, when life threw Peridot at her, Lapis got weak in the knees and became a blushing, stammering mess who’d make a hasty retreat to the girl's restroom to cool her face off and try and calm down.

She had a feeling that Peridot might have a crush on her. At least, her ‘friends’ would say that the blonde did in between their teasing and harassing of Lapis in regards to her long standing crush on Peridot. Not that Lapis put much salt to what  _Jasper_ of all people said in terms of relationships. As great a friend as Jasper was, she was the last person you wanted relationship advice, or advice on any matters of love for that matter, from. 

Sometimes, though, Lapis would turn to look at Peridot and find the blonde hastily looking away, sometimes she could have sworn the nerd was blushing when she did that. She liked to think that maybe, just maybe, Peridot had been staring at her.

They’d be graduating in two months. Peridot would be off to Stanford on a full scholarship, Lapis would probably be sticking around for community college. The likelihood of seeing each other again after graduation would be reduced to summer breaks with no guarantee of actually hanging out.

Well, maybe Lapis was overthinking this. 

Still, she only had two months left of high school, once they graduated, she probably wouldn’t get another chance.

In her hands was a small white envelope, inside the envelope was a letter. As cliche as it was, Lapis had actually sat down and wrote a love letter and confession to Peridot, a way to confess her feelings without having to say it face to face. It took her hours, countless rewrites. Her trash bin in her room was filled with crumpled drafts she’d thrown out. She wasn’t even satisfied with the finished version, but Jasper had insisted she just give it to Peridot already before she spent another number of hours of rewriting.

She wasn’t sure if she could do this. Her hands were shaking as she stood in front of Peridots locker. What if it didn’t get noticed, fell to the bottom and Peridot didn’t notice it, or she thought it was a joke and threw it out?

She could see Jasper at the end of the hall, waiting for her to get this over with. A mix of encouragement and impatience on the giant woman's face and in her expressions.

Damn, anime made this look so much easier.

Taking a deep breath, Lapis jammed the letter into the slit in the locker and quickly walked away to where Jasper was waiting.

* * *

The next day, she and Peridot didn’t say anything to each other. No hello, no talk of the letter Lapis had given Peridot. The only sign that it had been received and red was the bright red blush Peridot would get whenever she looked at Lapis as they passed each other in the halls.

Lapis was sure this was rejection. At least, until she opened her own locker at the end of the day and found an envelope in it, inked in bright green penmanship ‘ _To Lapis from Peridot’_. The contents made her heart swell and a gave her a smile that not even Jaspers antics could take away.


	8. I Don't Deserve You

They had wanted to try.  _Lapis_ had wanted to try. To reclaim something that she had lost. …To reclaim  _what_ exactly? She didn’t even know. Something intangible. Something on a deeper level. Something that she hadn’t thought she could lose when she had fused with Jasper to become Malachite. Perhaps her innocence? Her faith?

She wanted to try and get whatever it was back.

She wanted to fuse with Peridot.

It was no secret that she and Peridot had gotten closer and closer ever since they became roommates. The two were best friends, they roommates, they were lovers. Lapis had found that she came to care about Peridot more than she ever thought she would when she first moved into the barn.

The green gem was… she was something else. Something great.

She did everything she could to cheer Lapis up when the blue gem was down. If she noticed Lapis wasn’t her usual self, no matter how important the task at hand may have been, Peridot would drop everything to console Lapis. She’d do goofy things and difficult tricks that she’d usually fail just to get Lapis to laugh. She knew when Lapis needed her. She also knew when Lapis needed to be alone.

But even then, Lapis was never truly alone. Peridot would be outside the barn, always close by, always in reach and ready to be at her side if Lapis needed her.

She didn’t  _deserve_ the kindness Peridot selflessly showed her. Not after all she’d done. But, Peridot never cared about what Lapis had done in the past. What Lapis had done to the Crystal Gems, to Jasper or even to Peridot.  It was all in the past, Peridot would say. Even if Lapis did something to upset her, she’d shake it off as though Lapis’ own happiness was more important than her own.

Lapis felt like a parasite. She felt awful. Awful that it felt to her that Peridot moved her entire life around Lapis own needs, as though Peridots own were only second fiddle to what Lapis wanted and needed. She didn’t want Peridot to do that, and Peridot would assure her she wasn’t, but, Lapis still felt awful. She felt guilty whenever Peridot doted on her, she felt guilty whenever Peridot showed her kindness and affection.

She didn’t deserve any of it.

Lapis didn’t deserve Peridot when she agreed to fuse with her. Peridot deserved someone else for her first fusion, she deserved someone good. Not Lapis.

Lapis didn’t deserve the love and assurance Peridot gave her when she panicked during their attempted fusion dance when she felt like Malachite all over again and very nearly attacked Peridot with a whip of water out of reflex. She didn’t deserve Peridot who told her it was okay, that they could go at Lapis’ pace, that they’d fuse when Lapis was ready. Peridot had been so eager to fuse with her, Lapis knew she had to have crushed her hopes when she couldn’t bring herself to fuse.

Peridot had told her that she wanted her first fusion to be with Lapis, so she’d wait until Lapis was ready. Lapis may never be ready to fuse again. She felt sick to her stomach just trying with Peridot, and though she had suggested it, had assured Peridot it was okay, she couldn’t do it. She hated herself for not following through. She hated that she was so afraid of hurting Peridot, of creating another Malachite.

It should be Amethyst, she’d try to tell Peridot. Or Steven. The green gem should fuse with one of them, not with Lapis. Have her first fusion with one of them. It’d be healthy, it’d be happy. It’d be something  _good_. Anything made with Lapis… couldn’t be any of those things.

Lapis didn’t deserve her. She didn’t deserve her when Peridot told her it wasn’t true. She didn’t deserve Peridot who’d blindly delude herself into thinking Lapis was a good person. It was only a matter of time until Lapis ended up hurting her. But Peridot insisted on staying.

She didn’t deserve someone so good in her life.


	9. A Cute Waitress

Every other day, at three o’clock sharp, Lapis would find her way in the small homestyle restaurant and get herself a booth by the window overlooking the ocean for her lunch break. It wasn’t anything fancy. A small place, old too. Owned by a married couple known as Ruby and Sapphire, though all the employees were in some way friends of their daughter. It wasn’t really anything special, and the food wasn’t the greatest thing on Earth. Even more, it wasn’t even close to her workplace.

Yet, Lapis still came here every other day at the same time. She’d have come every day if she could, but she couldn’t. She’d order the same thing every day, a simple tea and the house salad.

There was another reason that Lapis chose the table she did for her usual spot. Though she loved the ocean, it wasn’t the view that she enjoyed seeing every time she came and sat there. You see, her table was in a special spot. It was at just the right angle where she could see the entire restaurant from, not that the place that that big or anything. Which means, she could watch the adorable, clumsy blonde waitress every time she came.

Lapis swore up and down that when she first arrived at the Fusion Cuisine and met the blonde, it was love at first sight. The girl had such an energetic, enthusiastic personality, she was loud, but friendly and eager to please. Frankly speaking, the girl was utterly adorable.

The blue haired art director always made sure to leave a sizable tip whenever she was lucky enough to get the blonde as her customer. Though she had to leave decent tips for the other waitresses too when she wasn’t lucky, that way they didn’t get suspicious. She didn’t want them bugging the blonde because she got a big tip from Lapis every time and they didn’t. The bird nosed woman seemed especially like the kind of woman who’d get bitchy about it.

She’d been coming to this restaurant every other day for the past two months. She started up some friendly chatter with the waitress every time she got her. Every time she talked to her, Lapis could feel her crush getting bigger and bigger. She didn’t even know the waitress’ name, for Gods sake! She was the only one that didn’t have a nametag.

Lapis had, however, managed to find out a few good tidbits from the woman even if her name was not included. She always used a green ink pen when she worked, brought it home every shift, was apparently her lucky pen. She liked a show called Camp Pining Hearts that she’d mentioned once, (Lapis binge watched it after she brought it up and fell in love with the show), she was born in Greece but moved to America when she was ten, (Okay, that was actually because another waitress, Amy? Ames? Something along those lines, had barged into their conversation and brought it up.) She often got into debates with Pearl, the bird nosed woman and was very interested in electronics.

Most importantly? Lapis had found out last week that she was  _single_.

Lapis had brought up, as casually as she could, that the waitress must get a ton of dates because of how cute she was. Okay, she’d been trying to flirt and she had a feeling the flirting went over the blondes head, but that was fine. The woman had been surprised by the comment and shrugged it off, citing that she had never been on a date before.

Well, Lapis was determined to change that.

She’d written her name and number on a napkin when she first got to the restaurant that day. Her intent was to give it to the waitress when she came and took her check. She wanted so badly to be smooth, but now she felt that her message might have been cheesy. What if the pretty blonde waitress wasn’t even into girls? What if she wasn’t into dating in general?

Regardless, whether she had a chance or not, Fate had it out for Lapis that day. When she sat down, it wasn’t the cute blonde she had been crushing on so hard since she first started coming, but the loud, short Latino girl with the silvery purple hair. Lapis didn’t mind her, better than Bird Nose, but, she really wanted to have the blonde today.

So, Lapis got her food and ate quietly as she watched the blonde waitress move around the restaurant. Chatting with guest as she collected or gave them their dishes, making talk with the other waitresses. She could see the girl smiling, the way it would grow bigger when she laughed and how she’d duck her head down or cover her mouth to try and muffle it. Occasionally she’d trip over her own feet and take a moment to steady herself.

Damn did Lapis have it bad for this girl. But, she couldn’t give her the napkin with her number on it. That’d require Lapis to approach her directly and she wasn’t really sure she was up to that task just yet. It was hard enough for her to maintain her cool when she was seated and talking to the blonde as a customer and waitress! She’d have to hold out until another day. Maybe she could find a less lame way to ask the girl out that didn’t make her sound like a stuttering middle schooler.

In the twenty minutes Lapis was there to eat, she could have swore that she had caught the blonde glancing over to her now and then, and it made her heart flutter. “Calm down, Lapis, she’s probably checking to see how the customers are,” she’d scold herself.

Eventually it came time to leave and as Lapis’ waitress came back with her receipt and card, there was something else in the mix too.

“My girl Peri wanted me to give this to you,” Amethyst winked as she slid the paper, folded into a neat little triangle, over to Lapis. Before Lapis could even ask who this ‘Peri’ was or what it was about, the woman was off.

Unfolding it, Lapis saw that there was a phone number dotted down in green pen. Just seeing the ink made Lapis’ heart pick up a bit, there was only one person working here who used a green pen. Glancing over, she saw Amethyst heading over to the blonde, both eyes looking over to Lapis who had to quickly advert her own gaze. Her face was heating up like she stuck it into a furnace.

She wanted to scream and cheer, she wanted to laugh. She wanted to run on over and ask her out in front of everyone.

Just, she’d be damned. The waitress beat her to the punch.


	10. A Drunken Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Role Reversal requested here, a parallel to Chapter 13 of The Moon is Beautiful

She’d fucked up.

Scratch and erase that. It wasn’t exactly accurate.

She was fucked up.

That’s better.

Lapis gave a hum to herself as she nodded. She was fucked up. Very fucked up right now. She’d attended one of Jaspers parties, which were always wild and crazy and full of illegal things, and she’d gotten pretty drunk and maybe just a bit high from some weed she snagged. Well, she  _thinks_ it was weed that she smoked, she wasn’t quite sure.

She’d left the party early, at the peak of midnight to get away from the blaring music before her eardrums burst. Seriously, that Sour Cream kid didn’t know how to lower a volume, only raise it. She also thought it’d be a great idea to go for a walk while she was drunk and high… hrunk for short. Or maybe Drigh. No, that sounded too much like Dry.

Focus, Lapis! Stop getting distracted!

She frowned at her own thought, wanted to stick her tongue at herself for telling herself what to do. Yeah… she was pretty drunk.

It was down pouring too out, and Lapis had decided to go for a walk in just her tank top and jeans. Not the best idea, but who came up with good ideas when they were high, drunk or both? Certainly not Lapis Lazuli.

Thankfully, a tiny angel had come to her rescue in a blue minivan. Seriously, who drives minivans and aren’t soccer moms?

Her art teacher, that’s who.

Not that Lapis was complaining about being picked up by Peridot Olivine in her powder blue minivan that’s back was full of computer and art junk. Honestly, Lapis couldn’t have been happier that it was the tiny blonde woman who picked her up out of the rain. Was even happier when the woman brought her to her own home. Her cat, Percy, was the cutest.

She’d been given a change of clothes, which resulted in an oversized hoodie and pair of boxers because nothing else that was Peridot’s fit her. She was placed on the couch and would be ‘Under my watch until you sober up’ as said by Peridot. Which basically meant she was being babysat.

Again, not that Lapis was complaining. Because, hey, any time she got alone with the cutie was a good time in her book! Neither were really all that tired, Lapis tended to be far more awake when she was drunk, at least in the beginning. So the two started watching Camp Pining Hearts episodes and making fun of Paulette.

Oh, and Lapis fucked up.

By fucked up, well, she decided to just out of the blue kiss Peridot while the woman was on a tirade about why Paulette and Percy would never work. Partially to just shut her up and mostly because she just really,  _really_ wanted to kiss Peridot. Which she really shouldn’t because this is her art teacher.

But, hey, Lapis, once again, was not going to complain. Especially not when Peridot started kissing her back.

Score one for the Lazuli. Hopefully she could remember kissing Peridot in the morning because she was going to need that happy thought to help survive the hangover she was going to be screwed over with.


	11. School Girl Crushes Pt. 2

_Dear Lapis Lazuli,_

_I’m not sure how to word this, but, I’m very flattered and awe-struck by the letter you gave me prior to this. I never knew you had felt that way, and so strongly too. It was quite startling, but it would explain the stares._

_If you would like, I would be interest in pursuing this… mutual attraction we’ve found ourselves holding. Here is my number if you wish to go forth with this._

_Peridot_

It was so nerdy, so dorky, so… Peridot. She couldn’t help it, just reading it over and over again in her head had Lapis smiling from ear to ear and giggling like she was high. She could just hear Peridot saying it, too.

Well, Lapis had wasted no time punching the numbers into her phone and sending a text. A text turned into a call. A call turned into an actual, verbal conversation. A conversation turned into a date.

In all honesty? Lapis was beyond shocked that Peridot would respond positively to her confession, let alone return her feelings. Peridot was smart, she was cute, she had a bright future ahead of herself. Yet she’d lower herself to be with someone like Lapis who only had swimming and art in her corner. 

She half expected Peridot to start dating Pearl. The tall, skinny classmate had been giving Peridot the doe eyes ever since the science fair last year where they both ended up making robots and had a bot battle in the middle of the fair. Pearl was beautiful, she was intelligent and graceful and everything Lapis was not.

Yet. Peridot chose Lapis.

They had a date. Nothing fancy. It was at Diary Queen because that was all Lapis could afford. Peridot didn’t mind, she loved it. Lapis loved the way she smiled, genuinely happy, real enjoyment out of the date out of the company.

Jasper teased her relentlessly when Lapis gushed to her how deep she was falling for the blonde nerd.

A few months later, Lapis asked her to go to prom with her. She did it in an elaborate way, at least, Lapis liked to think it was elaborate. She took some old cars from the scrap yard Jaspers dad owned, her, Jasper and the old man snuck the old pieces of metal onto the school roof and spray painted the question onto the cars so that Peridot would see them when she got to school. 

Needless to say Lapis got both a yes and a month long detention. Worth it.

They kept going on little dates, small things that Lapis could afford to take Peridot on. Peridot would surprise her here and there by taking her out instead. Movies. Dinners. When they realized they were both fans of the same show, Peridot bought Lapis admission to a CPH convention in Ocean Town, it coincided with Lapis’ birthday, it was a surprise birthday gift. She even got Lapis to meet the actress for Paulette. Lapis won Peridot a big alien plush, got her CPH merchandise. 

They kept going on dates, they joked, they laughed. They’d fight occasionally and they’d make up the next day. Eventually they became That Couple, the one so sickly sweet and affectionate that people loved and hated.

They kept staring at each other like lovestruck fools in the halls and Lapis kept leaving love letters in Peridots locker.

 


End file.
